Today I wanted to buy a box of matzoh for Passover, but I couldn’t afford to. Today I learned how much I hate you. I love you, but I hate you. I don’t want to depend on you, but right now, I have to. I don’t feel ashamed that I must use a government issued card to buy my groceries. I feel ashamed for you that you had to call me to ask me if I paid for my own phone bill and then lower my monthly grocery money allotment based how much I spent paying for my own landline.

I know that there are others who got this phone call and the letter that followed, whose SNAP allotments were cut down to the bare minimum of $16 a month, likely based on the possibility that they may not be able to afford their own land line. Fortunately, I am one of the lucky ones who can and so my monthly allotment is not as such. However, it still pisses me off that the State of New Jersey would see to it that those who cannot afford groceries due to their present situation in life, should be shopping for fewer groceries and therefore less healthy options.

Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful that I can still afford to do complete grocery shopping trips using my NJ SNAPs, but I believe that the latest adjustment was not well-balanced. Basing someone’s ability to buy groceries on whether or not they can afford their bills when it should be based on an individual’s income. I may have received more money because I pay my own bill, and a neighbor may have received less because he does not. Is the ultimate goal not to achieve financial independence anymore? This would be in addition to making healthy eating more affordable, as per the nutrition courses you are so desperately trying implement! Sometimes we need a little help first in order to get us to that goal.

I walked out of the grocery store, no matzo for Passover, no soup for dinner tonight, and no groceries for the rest of this week. Leaving everything in the two bags on the counter, I apologized to the cashier, twice, and walked home trying not to cry. Although you might think so, I wasn’t sad or ashamed. It took me only a few seconds to realize that I was more angry that embarrassed. I was fuming inside!

So SNAP YOU government! Get yourself together and stop taking the food from our mouths!

It is an Arabic dish that became so loved by both Jews and Arabs alike in the Middle Eastern area that it became an Israeli national food staple. According to the article, Jews would go into the Arab quarters for a bite of authentic hummus.

So if you’re boycotting your Tribe, Sabra or other favorite hummus brands, you might want to keep this in mind: most likely, the brand you’re buying is certified kosher, has Jews, Muslims, or people of Middle Eastern nationalities on it’s staff. Then consider this: I have read that the dietary laws of Halal ALLOW for the consumption of Kosher food.

Finally, think about whom all these anti-Israel boycotts are really affecting. I believe that this would have little to no affect on their army or reserves. Israel has one of the finest armies in the world and the kids over there look forward to the draft.

Then there are the employees of these companies that you’re boycotting. There are both Israelis and Arabs making the products side by side; hummus, Ahava beauty products, and more; and it is the food from their mouths that you are taking because you don’t like what you are seeing in the media.

If you don’t like what you’re seeing on the news or reading about in the papers and online and you REALLY want to make a change, then go go to Israel and petition the government yourself. Don’t plaster the streets with your stickers and propaganda, because impressing your beliefs on the rest of us is the last thing that people want to see.

Nestlé owns about 51% of Osem, an Israeli company that owns Sabra. Maybe you’ll want to boycott them too?

First of all, I would like to congratulate ALL of the champions who have participated in this national event. I was at the Opening Ceremonies on June 15th, where law enforcement representatives and athletes from throughout the United States, who ran together for the Law Enforcement Torch Run, brought the Flame of Hope to light the cauldron at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. It was spectacular!

Special Olympics 2014 USA Games Law Enforcement Torch Run: The Flame of Hope is lit.

Like this:

Normalcy, in theory is the way in which a collective group or society behaves, in a usual or typical fashion, as a whole, right? So for person to be considered “normal” they must behave like everyone else.

Why the hell does it even matter?

What you consider to be normal doesn’t have to be, nor will it ever be normal for me!

If you were to always base your actions on what your peers or family expects of you, then you are living a pretty stifled life.

●boring
●monotonous

Why? Because you place too much value on what others think of you and what they want of you rather than focusing on what really matters:

●You must love yourself and accept yourself for who you are.
●You need to understand yourself before you can change anything, that is if anything really needs changing at all.
●Don’t be afraid to act for yourself.
●Express the you that is 100% you.

If we were all the same; if we were all NORMAL, then there wouldn’t be a word called “unique!”